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Olympic athletes inspire amateurs to take up sports

Sports clubs are reporting an increase in new recruits following the Olympic Games, especially in women's soccer.

Soccer player Christine Sinclair carried the Canadian flag into the Closing Ceremonies of Olympic Games. The team has inspired a new generation of soccer players. (Frank Gunn / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Rosie MacLennan won Canada's first and only gold of the Games with her performance in Trampoline. Clubs are seeing an increase in calls since the Games. (STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

The Canadian Olympic soccer team has inspired a new generation of soccer players. (RICK MADONIK / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Jennifer PagliaroStaff Reporter

Sun., Aug. 19, 2012

Adoring fans of Canada’s newly-returned Olympic athletes are taking their admiration one step further — getting onto the field and into the ring to follow in the gold, bronze and silver footprints of their favourite stars.

In the GTA, amateur sport clubs and gyms are reporting boosts in membership, something they attribute to the excitement and athleticism on display at the Summer Games.

Ron Clarke, coach for Oshawa Kicks women’s under-16 team, the Red Devils, said watching how the hopes of the Canadian Women’s soccer team were dashed, then seeing them pull through in the bronze-medal match has invigorated local interest in the game.

“We celebrate when they win. We really celebrate because we see our enrollment go up,” Clarke said.

The club’s regular “Fun Day” this past Sunday drew an unanticipated number of new visitors, many siblings of players already enrolled and looking to try their feet at soccer, he said.

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In the last five years, Clarke said they’ve gone from around 20 rep teams to 38, with the largest increase in the 8-10 age range.

“They’re just coming in droves and droves,” he said.

He said his girls have been lucky to have Canadian player Candace Chapman come and speak to the team.

“Just to see her on television, it’s like they have someone they can connect to,” Clarke said. “That’s definitely been inspiring for my girls team.”

Some girls were seen sporting their team outfits, including the Red Devils, at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Monday when members of the Canadian team, including Chapman and goal-scoring Diana Matheson, returned home.

With teams ranging in age from under three years old to senior men and women, Clarke said a few of their girls end up playing provincially and have dreams of going further.

“They’ve always aspired to play for Canada,” he said.

Clarke said he hopes the club’s newfound members learn to pay it forward, maybe one day becoming moms and encouraging their daughters to play.

“Increasingly, the parents who come on board are more educated about the game,” he said. “We don’t have to sell it as much anymore.”

At Airborne Mississauga’s trampoline gym, manager Marie Kerrigan said they are opening extra classes for the fall to keep up with demand.

“Even immediately after the men’s finals . . . within a half hour there were probably about four or five phone calls,” she said. “Definitely we’ve had a lot more phone calls.”

Airborne gives formal lessons at recreational level and also trains a competitive team.

Kerrigan said the coverage of trampoline at this Olympics — especially Canadian Rosie MacLennan’s gold medal performance — definitely brought legitimacy to the event.

“We’ve always had some pictures of the previous medal winners in our showcase, so when people come in they’re often very surprised that it is an Olympic sport,” she said.

In Etobicoke, Jason Gaudette, general manager at Xtreme Couture fitness and MMA club said their facilities have also seen an increase in membership since wrestling and boxing matches aired at the Olympics.

“I would definitely say that we received a little more attention because of it,” he said.

“In Toronto, not too many people televise fencing,” Ho said, despite having five Canadian athletes at the Games. He said the less face time a sport gets, the less likely it is to inspire others to get involved.

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